e houseboat save Tom Curtis and Captain Jules.
Up to to-night Captain Jules had been guarding the treasure at his house
up the bay. No one had been allowed to see it since the famous day of its
discovery, except the experts who had come down from Philadelphia to give
some idea of the value of Madge's remarkable find.

Little Tania was in the habit of sleeping in the dining room of the
houseboat on a cot which Miss Jenny Ann prepared for her each night. She
went to bed earlier than the other girls, so in order not to disturb her,
she was stowed away in there instead of occupying one of the berths in
the two staterooms. Soon after the captain's departure Miss Jenny Ann
tucked Tania safely in bed. She closed the door of the dining room that
led out on the cabin deck and also the door that connected with the
stateroom occupied by Madge and Phil. The cabin of the "Merry Maid" was a
square divided into four rooms, and Miss Jenny Ann's bedroom did not open
directly into the dining room.

It was a dark night and a strangely still one. The weather was unusually
warm and close for Cape May. Over the flat marshes and islands the heat
was oppressive. The residents of the summer cottages left their doors and
windows open, hoping that a stray breeze might spring up during the night
to refresh them. No one seemed to have any fear of burglars.

On the "Merry Maid" the night was so still and cloudy that the girls sat
up for an hour after Captain Jules left them, talking over their
wonderful good fortune. They were almost asleep before they tumbled into
their berths. Once there, they slept soundly all night long. Nothing
apparently happened to disturb them, but Madge, who was the lightest
sleeper in the party, did half-waken at one time during the night. She
thought she heard Tania cry out. It was a peculiar cry and was not
repeated. She knew that Tania was given to dreaming. Almost every night
the child made some kind of sound in her sleep. Madge sat up in bed and
listened, but hearing no further sound, she went fast asleep again
without a thought of anxiety.

Miss Jenny Ann was the first to open her eyes the next morning. It must
have been as late as seven o'clock, for the sun was shining brilliantly.
She slipped on her wrapper and went into the kitchen to start the fire. A
few moments later she went into the dining room to call Tania and to help
the child to dress. But the dining room door on to the cabin deck was
open. Tania's bed